LONDON – Two Bermudians have gone on trial at a top court in Britain on terrorism charges following a raid on an apartment in the north of the country last year.
Hisham Muhammad, 25, is accused of planning to use a radio-controlled drone to attack an army barracks, while his cousin, Faisal Ahmad, 24, is charged with knowledge of the plot and failure to inform authorities.
The two have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Both were identified as Bermudian when arrested in June 2018 after a raid on an apartment in Bury, Greater Manchester, where weapons were allegedly found.
The two men appeared in the dock on Tuesday at the Old Bailey in London.
Muhammad faces a charge of “engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism” while his alleged accomplice, Ahmad, is charged with one count of having information which he knew or believed might be of material assistance in preventing the commission by another person of an act of terrorism and failing to notify the authorities.
Bermuda police confirmed last year that the two, said to have been living in the UK “for a significant period of time”, were arrested after the raid on June 4, when Greater Manchester Police said there were “reports that suspicious items had been found at an address on Victoria Avenue”.
A jury heard on Tuesday that Muhammad was accused of researching drones, obtaining knives, downloading “terror material”, and visiting the Castle barracks in Bury.
Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC told the court that Muhammad “grew up in Bermuda where his parents lived but moved as a young man to Gambia”.
Ahmad was said to be Bermuda-born but moved to the United States as a young man, before going to Gambia.
The two men were said to have moved to Britain in 2013.
The trial continues next Monday. (CMC)
